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ARTISTS

THE AUSTRALIAN HAYDN ENSEMBLE

SKYE MCINTOSH - ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & VIOLIN

SIMONE SLATTERY - VIOLIN

JAMES ECCLES - VIOLA

JAMES BUSH - CELLO

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Haydn is often referred to as "the father of the string quartet". His stylistic development of the genre reached a new pinnacle with the Op. 76 quartets which represent some of his most stunning work. Dedicated to Count Erdődy, they reflect progress towards a much more equal footing between the four players, rather than the focus on the first violin as the main soloist.


The Ensemble presents two quartets from his Opus 76. No. 2 also known as the Fifths, is a humourous play on the interval of a fifth. The second movement is a stunning solo aria for the violin and is in contrast to the bizarre ‘Witches' Dance’ menuetto in the third movement. The work finishes with a Hungarian-flavoured finale.

Haydn’s String Quartet Op. 76 No. 3 the Emperor is one of his most famous. It takes its nickname from the beautiful second movement set of variations based on the theme of ‘Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser’ (God Save Emperor Francis), an anthem Haydn wrote for Emperor Francis II.

Along with this, the Ensemble performs Mozart’s string quartet The Hunt, a popular musical theme in the eighteenth century. He captures the sense of the hunt with the jaunty horn-like calls in the first movement.